Is Jennie worth remembering?
Posted by robyngiannini on April 22nd, 2007
Brad,
Oh wow. Okay, what you are talking about is incredibly interesting. In a nutshell, do some people have more creativity, more originality to offer to this world. In essence, are some people “worth” (in the words of Dante) more than others? Or rather, worth remembering.
I like to think that everyone has something to offer, if you are looking hard enough. I feel like the more I get to really, really know people, the more you find out how cool they actually are. The more you make those connections and talk with people the more you discover what they bring to the table, in their own way.
However, I don’t think that people just stumble upon an original “something” someday. I mean–I think sometimes people do, but I don’t think that’s an inherent trend in a person’s life, to discover their “something.” I don’t think everyone has an original “something” at all. People are people. It’s people who are the something, not an idea that they might have.
I think some people are more natural creators, based largely on their upbringing or maybe even genes you have the sort of mind to create, to learn, to invent–to stand out. That doesn’t make them more worth it, exactly…it just makes them that kind of person, for whatever reason. And maybe after months and years someone who really just floated along finds something to make them stand out do something spectacular. Or maybe they won’t. That doesn’t mean they don’t have something to contribute–just not the kind of original creativity I think you are talking about.
I just put a lot of thought into that, but I am in no way convinced with my argument–the above paragraph is more of a hypothesis–I wouldn’t even call it a theory. That’s a tough question.
Robyn
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Hey Robyn if you use the trackback address to link to my letter it will probably make more sense in the long run cos it will only link to my specific post instead of my entire blog:
http://blogs.elsweb.org/nsftmfx/2007/04/21/job-123/
as to yr response, I’m ruminating…
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Oh you’re just so technologically advanced…haha okay I see what you mean.
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
[...] Robyn, Yr response seemed pretty much like what I would expect, until you hit me with: “It’s people who are the something, not an idea that they might have.” I can’t tell exactly where yer going with it, but I really like the idea of it. Does it imply that the creativity - or “singleness,” if you will - of someone stems directly from that which lies only within themselves? Ok, no, what yer saying is that nothing inherently “lies” anywhere, that the “themselves” (”yrself,” “myself,” “ourselves”), THAT is it all along! Does this mean that Eben’s work with Jennie transcends time after all, that in fact to receive money for his work becomes a redundancy, & that the charm of his “masterpiece” - his Portrait of Jennie - is a charm coming not from her or from him specifically, but from “it”? This would mean that the subject & artist are both obsolete, “artist” being used here to mean anyone who does anything resulting in a product - writer, fisherman, coal miner - & that the creative function of art itself is in fact meaningless as well. If everyone is creative, then no one is creative, & yet if no one is creative then perhaps creation does not exist at all. Might I propose that it exists but does not matter? That way, this letter - this potential blog post - THIS is my ingenuity, my purpose behind taking this class, behind speaking to you, behind EVERYTHING. Is yr head spinning as quick as mine? Brad. [...]